The invention relates to a make-up brush, particularly for applying mascara to the eyelashes, of the type of those which include a core formed from a metal wire bent into a U and the branches of which are twisted to trap radial bristles between them, the core being fixed at the end of a stem.
A brush of this type is shown, for example, by FR-A-2,663,826.
When making-up, the user holds the stem of the brush forming a non-zero angle with respect to the mean transverse line of the two eyes. As a result, with conventional brushes known to date, the user frequently offers up the bristles of the brush in alignment with the eyelashes and deposits blobs of mascara, without separating the eyelashes. The make-up effect obtained therefore needs to be improved.
Furthermore, the brush is generally placed in a container containing the mascara, this container being equipped with a neck provided with a wiper through which the brush passes. It is desirable for it to be possible for wiping to take place with lower resistance, giving a better smoothing of the produce along the bristles.
The object of the invention, above all, is to provide a make-up brush, particularly for applying mascara to the eyelashes, which no longer exhibits the drawbacks recalled above, or exhibits them to a lesser degree.
According to the invention, a make-up brush of the sort defined previously is characterized in that the branches of the core are twisted, turning to the left, to form turns which, viewed along the axis of the core from that end which is fixed in the stem, turn in the clockwise direction about the axis of the core when progressing from the stem towards the end of the brush, whereas the bristles of the brush form helical layers rising from left to right in the area located between the core and an observer who holds the substantially vertical brush in front of him/her with its tip pointing upwards.
Preferably, the angle of inclination of the layers of bristles with respect to the axis is approximately 35xc2x0.
In general, the stem carrying the core includes, at its end distant from the core, a cap provided with a screw thread for screwing onto the neck of a container containing the mascara, this neck being equipped with a wiper through which the brush passes when it is withdrawn from the container; according to the invention, the branches of the core of the brush are twisted to form turns turning in the same direction as the screw thread of the cap.
In practice, the direction of screwing of the cap relative to the container is the clockwise direction, and the branches of the core are twisted so that the turns turn in the clockwise direction about the axis of the core when progressing from that part of the core which is fixed in the stem towards the free end of the core.
Thus, the rotational movement for unscrewing the cap relative to the neck takes place in the same direction as the rotational movement which unscrews the brush relative to the wiper.
The invention also relates to a method for manufacturing a make-up brush, according to which method, after having folded a metal wire over into a U, and after having placed bristles between the branches of the U, the branches of the U are twisted by turning the bent part of the U in the counterclockwise direction relative to the free ends of the branches.
For shaping the bristles of the brush the direction of rotation of the brush and the direction of rotation of a trimmer are reversed with respect to the usual direction of rotation.